Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Gamallt Hut Circle Settlement
Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales
A scheduled monument in Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, recorded as Hut Circle Settlement (Prehistoric).
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Hut Circle Settlement
- Period
- Prehistoric
- Date of designation
- 30 July 1993
- Community
- Ffestiniog
- Unitary authority
- Gwynedd
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 52.97629, -3.88559
- SAM number
- ME137
- Cadw record number
- 3241
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesLlyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of WalesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1795 map "To Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn Bart ... the map of the six counties of North Wales is most humbly inscribed by his obedient humble servant" (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1795 · To Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn Bart ... the map of the six counties of North Wales is most… (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales)
- 1883 · Watershed map England, Wales 3. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1896 · Sheet 7. Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1899 · 119 Snowdon (Hills) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1901 · Sheet 9 and 10. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
Cadw's description
Summary description and reason for designation
The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.
The monument comprises the remains of a settlement consisting of a scattered group of circular huts, enclosures and field boundaries with a more recent structure, possibly a hafod, superimposed on it.
The monument is situated on a rocky, S-facing slope in craggy, undisturbed upland pasture on the NW side and above the Afon Gamallt. The valley floor is quite boggy and two streams can be traced either side of the settlement. On the S side of Afon Gamallt is the disused trial mine of Llynau Gamallt, a mineral exploration of the late 19th century.
The settlement has not been excavated but can be dated by analogy to the Iron Age or Romano-British periods (c.800 BC - AD 400). The remains have been slightly disturbed by the hafod, but generally the hut foundations and stony banks are visible. The site is particularly important because of its proximity to known mineral deposits.
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric domestic life and social organisation. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of structural evidence and associated archaeological features and deposits. There is also the potential for environmental analysis in the low lying wetland at the foot of the slope.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.
Nearby in the register
- Bryn-y-Castell HillfortHillfortunder 1 mi
- Hafod y YsbyttyDomesticunder 1 mi
- Hut Circle at Llyn Morwynion, FfestiniogHut Circle Settlementunder 1 mi
- Cae Canol MawrDomesticunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.